Green Lantern
=History= Origins Unlike others who bear the name "Green Lantern," Alan Scott's power does not come from the Guardians of the Universe, but from the Starheart, a magical entity once imprisoned by the Guardians. The Starheart found its way to Earth where in 1939, in the shape of a lantern; it saved Scott from a train wreck. At the lantern's mental direction, Scott fashioned a ring from it that allowed him to tap the Starheart's great power. Perhaps influenced subconsciously by the Starheart's history, Scott adopted the identity of Green Lantern (the name of the great Corps administered by the Guardians). Justice Society of America Scott was a founding member of the Justice Society and was instrumental in many wartime battles. After the war, as a broadcast executive in the late forties, Alan Scott had a flirtatious relationship with the costumed villainess the Harlequin (who unbeknownst to Scott was secretly his secretary, Molly Maynne). Maynne even admitted that her career as a "criminal" was just a ruse to get close to Green Lantern. The Harlequin eventually turned over a new leaf, becoming an undercover agent for the FBI. She left Scott's life without confessing her true identity or her real feelings. Marriage Scott subsequently met and quickly married a young woman named Alyx Florin. He was unaware that she was actually Rose Canton (aka the Thorn), a schizophrenic but reformed enemy of the Flash. Alyx disappeared on their wedding night, starting a fire that led Scott to believe she had died. In fact, she survived and discovered that she was pregnant with twins. The children were born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and raised separately by adoptive families as Jennifer-Lynn Hayden and Todd Rice. Alyx was taken to the Amazons' Reformation Island. Jennie-Lynn and Todd, who developed superhuman powers as a result of their father's connection to the mystic Starheart, did not meet until adolescence, and set out to uncover the identities of their real parents. They adopted the costumed identities of Jade and Obsidian and confronted Scott about their parentage. And truly, Scott had no clue. Also during this time, he renewed his acquaintance with Maynne and discovered her past as the Harlequin; the pair finally gave in to their longtime attraction. But Rose Canton also resurfaced. Just before her death, she revealed the circumstances of Jennie and Todd's births. Scott and Maynne were married, but soon separated by the JSA's banishment to Limbo. They were reunited two years later when the Justice Society returned to Earth. Starheart At one point in recent years the Starheart made Scott appear much younger, and he took the new name and costume, Sentinel. He encountered a mysterious new Harlequin (IV), who may have been a manifestation of the Starheart, which became malevolent. The Starheart was apparently destroyed and Scott's powers were diminished and he returned to his original uniform. Jade also lost her powers during this incident. When the Justice Society reformed, Scott was there as always to anchor the team. One of their first major cases pitted Sentinel against his son, Obsidian, who had been seduced by dark forces. Scott was forced to beat Todd into retreat. It soon became obvious (and was confirmed by Dr. Mid-Nite) that Scott had become the living embodiment of the Starheart. Any changes to his age or powers are merely psychosomatic. Obsidian returned in alliance with Mordru and Eclipso. This time, Scott set things right and banished Todd's dark powers, perhaps for good. After this, Scott reclaimed the name Green Lantern. Todd was taken into D.E.O. custody and vowed to atone for his actions. The recent events involving his son has made Scott somewhat overbearing and overprotective of the JSA's other "children." Infinite Crisis During the great Crisis created by Alexander Luthor and Superboy-Prime, Scott and Jade followed Donna Troy into space to investigate a cosmic rift. When Luthor was defeated, the rift began collapsing and Jennie-Lynn was caught in one of the shock waves. Scott was on Thanagar when she lost her life. He learned afterwords that as she died, she returned the power once given to her by Kyle Rayner. Thus in a way, she continues to live on within Rayner. When the rift collapsed for good, Scott and the remaining heroes were sent reeling through space and time. He and several others reemerged a week later on Earth. Scott was among the lucky ones, having only lost an eye. Scott then somehow gained Adam's right eye and lost his left eye completely. His missing eye was later replaced by a portion of his daughter Jade's mystic green energy. After being put into a comatose state during an attack by the Gentleman Ghost, Jade appeared to him, told him goodbye and granted him another portion of her green energy. His missing eye is currently replaced by a green glowing orb that, due to its mystical origins and connection to Jade, allows him to track astral and mystical energy forms such as ghosts. The JSA had also become a specter of its former self, and its members became disillusioned about the team's effectiveness. This was underscored by the advent of Lex Luthor's Everyman technology, which awarded powers to a girl who adopted Jade's codename. Scott had to restrain Obsidian from accosting the girl. Checkmate Soon Scott was approached by the spy organization Checkmate, which was reorganizing under U.N. control. They invited Scott to become their White King, which he accepted. His time with Checkmate was brief. Scott soon found himself in a moral conflict with Checkmate's Black Knight Sasha Bordeaux over the violent nature of Checkmate, particularly after Bordeaux and her team slaughtered dozens of Kobra operatives during a raid on a facility. Bordeaux contended that the ends justified the means, while Scott adhered to the principle that heroes should not kill unless absolutely necessary; Bordeaux responded to this by suggesting that Scott should resign. Concurrent with this internal conflict, Scott and "White Queen" Amanda Waller attempted to keep the organization from being discontinued by political forces. Another JSA member, Mr. Terrific, succeeded him in the post. Meanwhile, Scott was urged by the Justice League to re-establish the JSA as an organization that cares for the legacy of its heroes. When his time with Checkmate came to an end, Scott resumed an active role in the JSA. During The Blackest Night, Scott and the rest of the JSA appear in specifically battling the reanimated Kal-L and Black Lantern versions of dead Justice Society members. After Jakeem Thunder was knocked out, Scott was one of the heroes who combined their powers into a "Black Lantern Bomb" designed to mimic Jakeem's Thunderbolt abilities, destroying all of the Black Lanterns in New York. In the final battle of the event, his daughter Jade was resurrected by the power of white light. Brightest Day Scott was shown in the arms of Obsidian, convulsing and writhing as a green light pours from his body. His body possessed, Alan flies off with his JSA teammates in hot pursuit, a chase which eventually leads to Germany. In Germany, the JSA meet up with Batman's new Justice League, and finds that Jade (who had been staying on Oa since her resurrection), had returned to Earth inside of a green meteor, which is revealed to be the legendary Starheart that gave Scott his powers. Sebastian Faust tells the two teams that the Starheart had been gradually taking control of people on Earth for quite some time, and now that it is on Earth, it was growing more powerful and driving metahumans all over the world insane. Jade states that the Starheart captured her in space and purposely brought her to Earth to find Scott, stating that it was her fault that her father was in danger. Just then, Scott awakens and his costume transforms into his suit of armor from Kingdom Come, he then tells the assembled heroes that he intends on destroying the world. Starman was sent into space to search for Scott, and finds that the he had constructed a massive fortress on the surface of the moon. Before Starman could warn the others, Scott appears in front of him, and tears his gem (the source of his abilities) from his chest, thus rendering him powerless. The Starheart began using its influence to corrupt various metahumans with magical or elemental abilities, which created chaos across the globe. Realizing that the heroes must defeat Scott in order to put an end to the madness taking hold of the earth, Batman recruits Miss Martian in order to get a mental lock on Starman, which in turn provides the Justice League with Scott's location. Batman assembled a small strike force consisting of himself, Jade, Hourman, Donna Troy, Jesse Quick and Mr. America, all of whom have a low chance of being possessed by the Starheart, to enter the Emerald City. Mister Miracle arrives, informing the team that Scott has most likely installed Fourth World defenses in his base, and offers his knowledge on the technology to guide them through the fortress. After momentarily becoming a White Lantern and separating from her brother, Jade used her powers to restore Scott to normal. With his sanity restored, Scott choose to allow the Emerald City he created on the moon to stay, and eventually the city becomes populated by various magical creatures from throughout the DCU. Paralysis and apparent death After the events of Brightest Day, Scott and the rest of the JSA traveled to the city of Monument Point after it was attacked by a super-powered terrorist named Scythe. Just before being defeated, Scythe snaps Scott's neck. In the subsequent story, it was revealed that Scythe was the product of Nazi genetic engineering, and that Scott and Jay had been tasked by the president with killing the experiment back when he was an infant during World War 2. The two heroes couldn't agree on a course of action, and as a result Scythe was allowed to live. Doctor Mid-Nite discovers that the injuries Scott sustained have rendered him paralyzed, and that any attempt to heal himself could break his constant concentration, which could result in the Starheart once again regaining control of his body. Jade eventually visits her bed-ridden father in the Emerald City and offers to use her abilities to help him walk again. Scott declines his daughter's offer, reasoning that if the Starheart were to once again take over his body, it could result in the deaths of everyone in the city. Eclipso eventually attacks the city, which results in Jesse Quick having to get Scott to safety. Scott eventually constructed a suit of armor from the Starheart energy which acted as an exoskeleton and gave him back a degree of mobility. He seemingly dissipated, however, after releasing the full power of the Starheart to seemingly destroy the fallen god called D'Arken. The JSA buried an empty coffin. Powers and Abilities Powers Starheart Empowerment: Scott controls the mystical power of the Starheart, an ancient artifact created by the Guardians of the Universe to contain the predominate amount of magic they had gathered in the universe. After the destruction of his ring by Extant, the long-term proximity to the energy has left him able to direct the green flame and its attendant constructs by sheer willpower alone. Green Lantern has extensive energy manipulation powers able to affect the entire spectrum including gravity, radiation, heat, light. Creating solid objects allows him to make simple weapons, entrapment devices, common geometric shapes, gigantic hands and simple containers. It has been discovered that Scott's body is composed entirely of green flame. *Eternal Youth: The artifacts mystical properties also imbue Scott with seemingly eternal youth. His appearance of aging is only a magical manifestation of his will. * Flight *Phasing: Scott can move through solid matter (described as the ability to “move through the 4th dimension"). *Hypnotize *Blinding Light *Energy Blasts: He can project energy blasts as fields of concussive force, flame, water or even ice. *Heat Beams: Scott can generate enough heat from his heat beams to melt down metal. *Stun Beams *Invisibility *Danger Detection: He can sense and reveal dangerous objects by causing them to glow. *Energy Constructs: Scott has the ability to focus his will and create solid objects such as giant hands, walls, etc. ** Increased Strength: Through his power he can increase his strength and striking power by directing the construct into a weapon form. Scott tends to utilize archaic weaponry as his force modifier. *Electromagnetic Scanning: Scott is able to detect most normal electromagnetic phenomena are within an amazing range, including radio, television, infrared and ultraviolet. *Power Duplication: He can use the power of the Starheart to duplicate the powers of other beings for short times, this allows him to keep up with the Flash, or have the lifting strength of Hippolyta. *Spell Modification: He has the power to modify spells since the Starheart and its attendant energies are magical in nature. *Force-Fields *Energy Sheath: He seemed to have a relatively permanent personal force-field that protected him from bullets and the like (described as an “invulnerability to metal”). This life sustaining aura protects him from harm. He can generate a field of life sustaining atmosphere and protection from harmful radiation, even if he is unconscious. *Telepathy: Occasionally used to read minds or playback events *Starheart Sight: His Starheart power allows him to track astral and mystical energy forms such as ghosts. He was given this ability from his magical eye that was formed from his daughter's energy. *Teleportation: Described as the ability to move his being from one place to another, this ability is rarely seen because it takes an enormous amount of energy for Scott. Abilities Engineer: Described as an excellent engineer he worked as both a radio engineer and repairman before becoming a super hero. Expert Martial Artist: Before becoming a super hero he took Martial Arts classes, he applies what he learns on almost every adventure and was trained further by Wildcat. Businussman: Owner of his own Communications Company and president of Gotham's broadcasting stations. Indomitable Will Strength level Class 100+; while using constructs created by the ring Scott is effectively able to lift/move tremendous weights far heavier than 100 tons with little effort. Without the ring Scott possesses the normal strength of a man his age, height and build who engages in regular exercise making him capable of press lifting at least his own weight. Weaknesses Wood Flaw: The energy is ineffective against wood. Items made of wood cannot be lifted or broken by energy from the ring nor can barriers of emerald energy stop projectiles crafted from wood. By extension, things made of plant-matter could potentially disrupt his power and were not affected by the ring's power as much as other substances were (so if he fired a blast at, say, a giant mutant Venus fly trap, the blast wouldn't be quite as effective if he'd fired the exact same beam at a human being or a brick wall). Apparently, this vulnerability to wood was because the green flame was an incarnation of “green, growing things” and thus could not be turned against them. Paraphernalia Equipment *Starheart Power Ring: Scott has formed a ring which acts as a focus for his powers. Transportation Flight, Teleportation Weapons *Starheart Lantern: A nigh-indestructible lantern which acted as energy source for his powers. The lantern was capable of absorbing energy as well and could become invisible. Currently depowered as its power has been internalized by Alan, he now owns it as mainly a keepsake. Oath “And I shall shed my light over dark evil, for the dark things cannot stand the light. The light of … THE GREEN LANTERN!” Notes *Although Scott was originally introduced during DC's Earth-Two era of publication, his existence following the events of the 1985-86 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths remains intact. However, some elements of Scott's Pre-Crisis history may have been altered or removed for Post-Crisis New Earth continuity, and should be considered apocryphal. *The character of Green Lantern was created by graphic artist, Martin Nodell, under the pen name Mart Dellon.